Mazzaglia: A taxing time for the IRS

Sunday

Apr 13, 2014 at 12:15 AMApr 13, 2014 at 10:21 AM

By Frank MazzagliaLocal columnist

It was at the end of the week on Friday, May 12 a year ago that a top official with the Internal Revenue Service dropped a bombshell.IRS staffers were aggressively singling out conservative organizations seeking tax exempt nonprofit status. Organizations with "Tea Party" or "Patriots" in their name were subjected to extra scrutiny. To see if they were abusing the tax laws relating to political activity, IRS agents came knocking at their doors for some intensive questioning. They wanted membership lists, and wanted to know what public statements they had made, and the names of their employees.Speaking to a group of tax lawyers, Lois Lerner, who was in charge of overseeing the agency's exempt organizations division, publicly apologized. However, that admission set off a wave of angry protests from both sides of the partisan aisle.Senator Joe Manchin (D.-W.Va.) called for a congressional investigation. President Barack Obama was also quick to express outrage at the IRS' targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. The president said, "If, in fact, IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that's outrageous. And there's no place for it."Just a few days later when he announced the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller due to the controversy, Obama added, "Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I'm angry about it."In her two appearances before the House Committee of Oversight and Government Reform, however, Lerner asserted her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. And as the blame moved closer to the White House, Obama suddenly reversed himself by calling the whole affair " a phony scandal."Democrats are now claiming that no evidence has emerged that the IRS has been involved in favoritism. Of course, it's impossible to obtain evidence when the key official refuses to testify.These are the four critical questions Lerner needs to answer. First, did you or others at the IRS communicate with the White House or with Democratic Senators or their staffs regarding tax exempt applications from conservative organizations? Second, was the IRS focus on conservative groups taken in response to earlier demands by Democratic Senators Max Baucus and Dick Durbin to more closely examine conservative organizations for possible violations of tax laws? Third, you have indicated that you were aware that the questions being asked by IRS agents to Tea Party groups were inappropriate, so why then did you continue to send letters well after you knew that what the IRS was doing was wrong? Forth, when did you become aware that confidential documents were being leaked to certain media outlets, and what, if anything, did you do about it?Until these questions are answered, the IRS scandal remains cloaked in mystery. So last week, the House Ways and Means Committee sent Attorney General Eric Holder a 14-page letter which essentially accuses Lerner of using her post to improperly influence IRS action against conservative organizations and denying them due process and equal protection rights under the law. The letter also suggests she impeded official investigations through misleading statements to the Inspector General of the Treasury Department.Holder has dodged questions about the IRS targeting of conservative groups by saying that the Justice Department is currently conducting an investigation into the matter. Given Holder's reluctance to cooperate, the House could implement a seldom used provision of the Constitution under its "inherent contempt" authority. Lerner could then be jailed until January 2015 when a new Congress is seated. It could then issue another subpoena and keep her in jail for as long as she balks at testifying. Lerner's advisers are betting that the Republicans lack the political spine to jail her. They may be right.As tax day approaches, the American people depend on the IRS to do its job fairly and without favoritism or discrimination. The scandal raises reasons for doubt.

Frank Mazzaglia can be reached at Frankwrote@aol.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.